After over six months of Karnataka assembly polls, in which BJP lost power, BJP President JP Nadda has appointed a new president for Karnataka unit. Former chief minister and party stalwart in the state BS Yaddyurappa’s younger son and MLA BS Vijayendra was appointed as state party chief, on Friday.
The party leadership is expecting him to revive party’s forftunes in the state in the forthcoming 2024 Lok Sabha polls following disastrous results in the last Assembly polls.
Vijayendra (47), a law graduate, is a first-time MLA from Shikaripura in Shivamogga, which was previously held by his father. In 2008, the party appointed him as the secretary of Bangalore Yuva Morcha. Later, he was made the general secretary of Karnataka BJP Yuva Morcha.
In 2018, Vijayendra was denied a ticket to contest from Varuna in Mysuru. However, he was made the state vice-president in August 2020 after the party won the bypolls in KR Pete and Sira under his leadership. On Friday, Vijayendra replaced Dakshina Kannada MP Nalin Kumar Kateel as the party president.
He announced that the long-awaited appointment of the Leader of Opposition (LOP) would take place during the BJP legislature party meeting to be held next week.
“After my appointment as the state president, I discussed with BJP national president J.P. Nadda ji about the appointment of the LOP. The election of the LOP will be held during the legislature party meeting to be held next Friday. We will seek the opinion of all our MLAs. Two central observers will be in Bengaluru next week to oversee the process,” said Vijayendra.
Earlier, Vijayendra thanked Union Home Minister Amit Shah, BJP organisational secretary B.L. Santhosh and other leaders for giving him a “huge responsibility”.
“The BJP has scaled great heights due to the hard work of leaders like B.S. Yediyurappa and other senior leaders. At a time when the world is looking towards India and applauding the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, my only goal is to work towards strengthening the party and ensure that the party wins the highest number of seats in the upcoming Lok Sabha polls. I will travel across the state and organise the state,” said Vijayendra.
